212 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



SLUBBER MACHINES AT WORK IN A COTTON MILE 



In this picture we see the slivers being drawn out of the cans on the right. As they 

 pass through the slubber they are given a twist which makes each fiber take hold of its 

 neighbor, and here they begin to acquire tensile strength. They emerge from the machine 

 on bobbins as "roving." The cotton in the cans is "sliver," while that on the bobbins in the 

 foreground is "roving" (^see text, page 215). 



sand and other foreign matter in the 

 cotton lose hold. The opener then con- 

 tinues the work of picking the cotton to 

 pieces. When the task is completed the 

 staple is in tiny tufts. These are caught 

 up by air suction, the dirt being left be- 

 hind, and carried to the fourth machine, 

 a "breaker picker." 



The breaker picker gives the tiny tufts 

 another beating, to remove persistent 



dirt, and then rolls them together in a 

 great downy sheet on a rod. This sheet 

 is known as "lap" (see page 208). 



Four of these laps are fed simultane- 

 ously into a fifth machine, known as the 

 "intermediate picker." Still another 

 beater plies its flails upon the cotton as it 

 comes in. The four laps that go into this 

 machine come out as one. 



In turn, four of these laps are fed into 



